Sites of Favorite People

Because I maintain the Genevieve website, I get a small but steady stream of interesting e-mails. Never, prior to an hour ago, have I received this one:

Hi there, wondering if you could help, who is the man banging the gong before the start of [the J. Arthur Rank film] Genevieve? Appreciate if your able to help!

I was, of course, immediately tempted to write back and suggest Marc Bolan. I didn’t, but I did learn that people are almost evenly divided about the meaning of “Bang A Gong,” with slightly less than half believing the phrase refers to drugs, slightly less than half who think it is a reference to sexual activity, and the remaining fraction who responded either “don’t know” or “couldn’t care less.”

But I realized that I had no idea who banged the J. Arthur Rank gong.

I didn’t know that the gong was a complete and total fake, made out of papier-mâché, and that if the mystery man had actually hit the thing, not only would it not have made a sound, but also the beater (and I didn’t know that the thing that hits the gong is called a beater) would have gone right through it.

So, who is the greasy gentleman above? No, not Bolan, the guy banging a gong.

The 6′ 5″ Carl Dane started banging in 1932 and kept banging until 1948. Dane was the first man to pull a London bus with his teeth and the first man to open a J. Arthur Rank film.

He was succeeded by Bombardier Billy Wells, a professional boxer who is the only beater to have a beer named after him.

Then there was Phil Nieman, who was only able to bang for a short time, considered by many to be a master beater.

And finally Ken Richmond, also 6′ 5″. He was a Jehovah’s Witness wrestler, and by that I do not mean that he wrestled the odd Jehovah’s Witness now and again. He was himself a Jehovah’s Witness, and when his gong-banging days were over, he started banging on doors and passing out copies of The Watchtower.

Ken being a 6′5″ 265 lb. pro wrestler, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most people said yes, they’d be very happy to have a copy of The Watchtower.

The beater was last applied to the gong in 1980, when the Rank Studios closed; Mr. Richman’s own beater gave out at his home in August of 2006, when he was 80 years old.

Isn’t Life Terrible?

"Isn't Life Terrible" is a Charley Chase short from 1925. The title was derived from a 1924 D.W. Griffith film, "Isn't Life Wonderful?" Other Charley Chase film titles that ask questions are "What Price Goofy?" (1925), "Are Brunettes Safe?" (1927), and "Is Everybody Happy?" (1928). Chase abandoned his titles with question marks for titles with exclamation points during the sound era.
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